Information Baby Steps: Difference between revisions

This is the syllabus for one of a series of classes taught by '''[[User:RaymondRS|Robert Raymond]]''' and represents his private opinions. Suggestions for changes should be made on this page's [[Talk:Information Baby Steps|Discussion page]].  

{{Template:Baby_Steps_Intro|information}}  

{{Template:Genealogical_Maturity_Information_Table}}  

“Just because you read it in print or see it on the Internet doesn’t make it true.”  

Having never experienced such errors, beginning genealogists tend to believe more than they should. The truth is that records don’t always tell the truth.  

With experience, genealogists come to realize that not all information is created equal. Take for example the information on a death certificate. The information provided by the doctor about the date and cause of death tends to be factual and reliable. The accuracy of the information provided by the informant (named near the bottom of the certificate) depends on what he or she knew. Generally he knows the decedent’s name and address. He is almost as reliable with marriage status and a little less so with birth date. Accuracy drops successively for birth place, parents’ names, and parents’ birth place.  

This situation confuses the concept of primary and secondary sources. Is a death certificate a primary source or a secondary source? The information about birth and parents is second hand. It is secondary information. The information about death is primary information. While the concept of primary/secondary sources works well in other fields, it fails genealogists. ''Information, not sources, is primary or secondary.''  

We must take several factors into account to judge the quality of information.  

When primary information is copied from an original, the information remains primary, even though the new source is a derivative source.<ref>Rose, ''Genealogical Proof Standard'', 8.</ref>  

Understanding the information we see in records depends on understanding the world in which it was recorded and the reasons for why it was recorded. As the old saying goes, “times, they are a changing.” Definitions change. Standards evolve. Laws are created or amended. Paradigms shift. Context is always evolving.  

For example, the meaning of the abbreviation “Ia” depends on when and where it was used. Whereas today IA is the postal abbreviation for Iowa, in the 19th century it was often used as the abbreviation for Indiana. Ancestry.com seems to have missed this point in their 1850 U.S. Census database. Many of the 100,000 Indianans they indicate were born in Iowa were actually born in Indiana.  

Stellar genealogists are able to tease information out of a record that eludes the grasp of other genealogists.  

As an example, genealogists hate alphabetized census records because alphabetizing all the names removes information about who lived next to whom. Elizabeth Shown Mills faced such a problem with a tax list organized by first letter of last name. She noticed groups of strictly alphabetized surnames seemed to match the tax officials’ visits to neighborhoods. This information allowed her to break through a longstanding brick wall.<ref>Elizabeth Shown Mills, “‘Margaret’s Baby’s Father and the Lessons He Taught Me’:  Identifying the father of an illegitimate child,” BCG lecture series for FamilySearch personnel, 12 October 2009.</ref>  

From ''sources ''we find ''information''. From ''information ''we select ''evidence''. From ''evidence ''we make ''conclusions''. ''Conclusions'' reference ''citations''. ''Citations'' point back to ''sources''.  

Using the table at the start of this handout, and using what you learned in class today, set a small, baby step improvement goal with a deadline. When the deadline arrives, repeat. If you will consistently pursue baby step goals, your genealogical experience will consistently improve.  

Advancing from level to level requires continuing education. Avail yourself of these resources:  

{{Template:Baby_Steps_Continuing_Education}}  

<references />  

[[Category:Baby_Steps]] [[Category:Genealogy_Education]]